The Tower of Hero was a Hero Association headquarters located in the heart of Seoul. On the 103rd floor, Yun Seung-Ah secretly read the reports on the recent incident and watched a video filmed by the museum’s camera. Naturally, it contained the battle between Cube’s cadets and a djinn. She hesitated because of the consequences, but an agent’s leaked information compelled her.

— A trace of light attribute mana was found at the scene.

Light attribute mana. Not only was it strange, but also extremely valuable. Light attribute heroes played a vital role in suppressing djinns who possessed the darkness attribute.

The fact that the light attribute was detected naturally meant that 1 of the 3 cadets who defeated the djinn had the light attribute.

Yun Seung-Ah often emphasized the importance of attributes and wanted to know the owner of this rare mana.

“But this person…”

Indeed, a young man caught her attention. From head to toe, he looked ordinary in every way. He spoke with Kim Suho and stealthily retreated when the djinn appeared.

He hid and made some strange actions as the djinn pushed Kim Suho back. Then he unloaded his gun except for a single bullet and began to tap on thin air.

After about a minute, he loaded the bullet and headed to battle.

What happened next was even more mysterious.

His gun exploded as he fired and a brilliant white light dyed the surroundings. The camera froze for 3 seconds because of the light. Everything had already been settled by the time the screen returned.

“Hmm.”

Most people assumed the attack came from Kim Suho, but Yun Seung-Ah doubted it. The light came from that young man’s attack no matter how she thought about it. Even Kim Suho admitted in his report, “Kim Hajin covered me.”

“Kim Hajin. I remember now. He’s the cadet who chose a gun. So he had a reason.”

Thud!

The door suddenly burst open. Startled, Yun Seung-Ah turned and saw the association’s executive. Aileen had a small build at only 153cm, but Yun Seung-Ah knew a 10 meter giant resided inside. Aileen glared at her with terrifying eyes. Yun Seung-Ah’s face paled as she jumped in horror.

“Un, Unni?” [1]

“I knew you were here. Come out.”

“Ah, wait, Unni. I can explain. I can…”

“Shut up and follow me.”

Yun Seung-Ah didn’t want to follow even if it cost her life, but her body moved on its own. It was Aileen’s one-of-a-kind gift, Spirit Speech. Of course, the price she had to pay for that power was equally great. It had a high risk of magic power recoil and her body remained underdeveloped.

“Unni, I’m a hero too! Please spare me!”

Her ability was honestly too much of a cheat.

“Only the association’s heroes are authorized here.”

“I know! I’ll leave, so let me go!”

“You better hurry before I throw you out the window.”

In the end, Yun Seung-Ah was chased out of the recording room.

“You have 2 choices. One, be punished. Two, help me with something.”

“I’m sorry. Please, let me go this one time. I don’t want to do either.”

The video Yun Seung-Ah watched was left playing in the empty room.

“Save me—!”

***

[Tuesday’s combat training, labyrinth exploration.]

Team 5, which included Yoo Yeonha and I, were in the middle of combat training inside a cave created by Cube.

“Hoseung, Hazuki, can you see anything?” 

Yoo Yeonha asked with a frown.

We were in an artificial dungeon modeled after a dark labyrinth. Our goal was to break through the undead monsters and reach the labyrinth’s center. Even heroes would find it difficult to light up this cave because of the mist created with dark mana.

“No, I can’t.”

“Me neither.”

Jin Hoseung and Hazuki answered.

“Tsk.” 

Yoo Yeonha clicked her tongue and didn’t ask anymore. She still treated me as invisible even after I gave her a Coke.

I shook my head and spoke. 

“I can see.”

“Huh?”

“Really?”

Jin Hoseung and Hazuki seemed surprised, but Yoo Yeonha ignored me.

“I said I can see.” 

Her attitude annoyed me as I loudly spoke to the back of her head. 

“I can see through the dark.”

Yoo Yeonha quickly around and glared. However, she faced Jin Hoseung instead of me.

“Stop fooling around.”

Insulted out of the blue, Jin Hoseung was taken aback while I casually retorted.

“I’m just saying. You’re going to fall if you go that way.”

“What nonsense— Kyak!”

Yoo Yeonha missed her footing and fell. I jumped to grab her arm as she clutched my shoulder with trembling hands.

“… Cough.”

She climbed back up using my body like a rope. Yoo Yeonha dryly coughed as though nothing happened.

“Looks like you aren’t lying. How can you see?”

“I have good eyes.”

It was thanks to my gift. The thousand-mile eyes weren’t hindered by distance or obstacles, which included lighting.

“Good. You should at least be able to do that much. So where should we go?”

“Just follow me.”

“Oh, how reliable.”

Jin Hoseung placed his hand on my shoulder as though we were friends. I brushed off his hand and walked forward.

Things proceeded smoothly from that point onwards.

I just had to walk, dodging what I could and notifying Yoo Yeonha of what I couldn’t. If the unavoidable enemy was a fluid-bodied spirit, Yoo Yeonha’s merciless whip took care of it. If it was an undead, Jin Hoseung and Hazuki took care of it.

My stamina had increased thanks to working out. Although not having to run played a big factor, this particular training was a breeze.

And now, I could see the result with my own eyes. We managed to reach the center of the labyrinth and saw only 8 people. In other words, we scored third place.

“Yoo Yeonha?”

“Hey, Jonghak.”

Shin Jonghak sat on a rock acting needlessly cool and called her. She ran towards him with an adorable smile and treated him completely different from how she treated me.

“Over here.”

Kim Soohyuk called out our time without paying attention to Yoo Yeonha’s touching reunion.

“Team 5. 48 minutes 10 seconds. Third place.”

Jin Hoseung and Hazuki cheered.

“Whoo. It’s all thanks to you. You have great eyes!”

“You do, you do!”

For now, I sat on the ground with them. Yoo Yeonha had already left for Shin Jonghak and Kim Suho slept on the ground. It seemed he still suffered from using that ability at the museum.

I also relaxed.

Another team arrived after about 5 minutes. I wasn’t surprised who it was. Sharpshooters generally had good eyes.

“It’s Nayun.”

Yoo Yeonha approached her and pretended to be happy. Chae Nayun was covered in dust for some reason. It seemed she fell into a trap. She walked in my direction and paused. Her cold eyes pierced at me.

“Nayun?”

She completely ignored Yoo Yeonha and marched towards me.

“What was your time?”

I bluntly replied to the simple question.

“48 minutes.”

Chae Nayun clenched her teeth. Sharpshooters often acted as the team’s pathfinder. She rightfully believed that I guided my team.

“Looks like even you have something you're good for."

She was clearly provoking me. I hesitated to reply. Should I strike back? I did have a good reason.

The novel’s antagonists had become much stronger, so it was necessary for our side… although Chae Nayun might not be on my side… Anyways, the lead characters also needed to grow stronger.

To do that, Chae Nayun needed to quickly abandon the bow. In this world, her potential was second only to Kim Suho, but it would be wasted with a bow.

“I guess you’re right.”

I didn’t find the need to respond to her provocation. Between negative and positive motivation, the former influenced her more according to my setting. However, the agent of motivation was also important. A weakling like me provoking her wouldn’t have much impact. Now wasn’t the time yet. I felt confident I would surpass her soon in archery. I just had to wait.

“Hmph.”

Chae Nayun seemed bored by my passiveness and strode off with a snort. I shook my head. Then I also made eye contact with Yoo Yeonha and her eyes carried a slight hint of interest that didn’t exist before.

“Hmph.”

However, she also walked away with the same disdainful snort.